For taxpayers and consumers, dealing with dictates from a distant Washington, D.C., bureaucracy is bad enough. Now, Brussels is angling for control over American households and businesses.
The European Union (EU) has been punishing U.S. tech companies for having the chutzpah to compete against their continental counterparts, while claiming it is doing no such thing. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen insists, “whether on environmental or digital regulation, we set our own standards, we set our own regulations.” It’s time for the EU to respect competition and treat American companies impartially as they expand their businesses globally. “Gotcha” rules and investigations will only succeed in fostering stagnation.
The European Commission (the EU’s executive branch) claims that its laws and regulations aim to provide a fairer marketplace and more level playing field. The 2022 Digital Markets Act (DMA) supposedly “establishes a set of clearly defined objective criteria to qualify a large online platform as a ‘gatekeeper’ and ensures that they behave in a fair way online and leave room for contestability.”
But this “centerpiece” of the European digital strategy relies on an American bended knee and runaway costs for consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. Apple and Meta found this out the hard way when they were hit with €500M and €200M fines under the DMA (respectively), despite going to great lengths to ensure compliance. It took companies millions of hours to introduce data transparency, message interoperability, and new advertising-related choices, only for Brussels regulators to dismiss their efforts and fine them anyway.
As an American Enterprise Institute analysis notes, innovative companies such as Apple are being forced “to provide third-party developers equal access to platform functionalities. ... Since introducing the EU’s DMA, Apple has received over 100 developer requests requiring substantial software modifications. Many requests, including making AirDrop compatible with Android devices, appear more focused on circumventing security measures than addressing genuine user needs.”
The DMA will also prohibit European consumers from accessing Apple’s new instant translation tool. As Jennifer Huddleston (senior fellow in technology policy at the Cato Institute) pointed out on X, “The real time translation feature would be immensely helpful in Europe with so many languages; however, the consequence of European regulation is that it might not be available. Once again DMA means less benefits from innovative technology for the consumer.”
Meanwhile, the EU is bizarrely forcing Google to add a dedicated box featuring links to the services of competitors at the top of its search page, with the formatting and number of links closely scrutinized by bureaucrats. Nevermind that consumers who have typed “google.com” into their address bar have already chosen Google over the (rapidly growing) competition and probably don’t want these confusing competitor boxes.
Brussels bureaucrats are also vying for dominance in outer space against American companies. For example, the EU Space Act (EUSA) brazenly discriminates against U.S. low Earth orbit satellite operators by introducing restrictions on large-scale satellite operations. The EUSA introduces the concept of a “giga-constellation,” defined as any satellite network comprising more than 1,000 satellites. This definition appears tailored to capture only two existing U.S. operators (SpaceX and Amazon) while conveniently excluding current and planned EU constellations, such as IRIS, which is expected to include only 264 to 649 satellites. As a result, U.S. operators would face stricter compliance obligations and higher regulatory costs, while EU companies would avoid them.
It’s worth pointing out why European satellite operations (current and projected) are significantly smaller than their American counterparts. The U.S. provides a more dynamic and competitive tax and regulatory environment, resulting in lower costs and barriers to entry.
A 2024 analysis by the European Center for International Political Economy notes, “the role of regulation in the shift of power from Europe to the US has also been crucial. According to the director of the ESA [the European Space Agency] himself, commercially driven government procurement policies in the US backed the rise of innovative firms like SpaceX. ... On the contrary, the ESA’s restrictive procurement policies, which essentially prioritised [sic] Europe’s only existing space industry giant and its antiquated business model, have kept European spacecraft costs infinitely higher hence uncompetitive internationally.” Rather than try to reverse these counterproductive policies, the EU is irresponsibly trying to cut its international competitors down to size.
Brussels bureaucrats and EU member states can regulate their own economies as they wish. But when European officials use predatory laws to get a one-up over the pesky Americans, the U.S. has every right to express concern. The global economy—and its billions of taxpayers and consumers—depends on fair and impartial rules that give everyone a chance to succeed.
Ross Marchand is a senior fellow for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.